Yahoo's Big Bang: a $24m plan to get small business using search marketing

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 28 April 2009 09:53

Business IT - Technology

Yahoo Search Marketing is hoping to kick start wider use of search marketing among Australian small businesses by giving away $24 million worth of keyword search advertising.

The campaign, dubbed 'Big Bang', is being run for the next three months in conjunction with Yahoo search marking specialists who will coach successful applicants to help them make optimal use of search marketing.

According to Willie Pang, managing director of Yahoo! Search Marketing, small business has been slow to follow the shift of Australian consumers into using the Internet to inform their purchasing.

Although there are estimated to be close to two million small businesses in Australia, Pang said that only about 40,0000 made use of search marketing, yet about 80 percent of consumers use the Internet to inform their purchasing decisions.

"The main objective of the Big Bang initiative is to educate and help small businesses to fully understand that search engine advertising is a compelling alternative that will make a positive impact on their bottom line," Pang said. "the Big Bang initiative is taking the pain out of online advertising, as a Yahoo! certified local specialist will be fully managing each small business campaign at no cost...The beauty is you don’t need an expensive or flashy website to succeed as it is all about driving customers to call and walk through the door.”

The campaign will kick off the good old fashioned way: with direct mail to 160,000 businesses. Each one to take up the offer will receive the services of a search marketing consultant and $150 worth of Yahoo search advertising at a cost-per-click through that varies according to how much the advertiser had bid the keyword that triggered the ad. However, Pang said that Yahoo Search Marketing would not stop the campaign if it reached the 160,000 before the end of the three months.